Woody V Pikachu
Sun Herald
Sunday November 28, 1999
It's the looming battle of the kiddie titans: Japanese computer monsters v American toy heroes. But whoever wins, parents' pockets will certainly be the losers this Christmas. Sue Williams reports.
AT Toys ``R" Us shops across the nation, the battle lines have been drawn.
On one side of each shop, 2.5m-long sections dedicated to merchandise associated with the kids' craze Pokemon, such as Pikachu fluffy toys, video games and trading cards, have been set up. On the other, giant cardboard figures of the Toy Story stars Woody and Buzz Lightyear have been erected.
This is war. And at stake? Children's hearts and minds and their parents' cold hard cash.
For while we might have thought we'd seen the ultimate in big bang merchandising campaigns fought with the release of Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace in June, the experts are all warning: ``We ain't seen nothing yet."
``Star Wars was sensational, but Pokemon has already proved bigger," said John Redenbach, merchandise director for Toys ``R" Us Australia. ``Between September and December, it will probably outsell Star Wars by 40 per cent. For us, it's been absolutely fantastic, the biggest phenomenon I've ever seen in my life. And when the film opens, it can only get bigger."
Staff are on stand-by for the two big events leading up to Christmas. First, on December 2, there's the opening of the movie Toy Story 2, the sequel to Disney's phenomenally successful computer-driven animation original. Then, on December 16, there's the release of Pokemon: The First Movie, which is expected to send kids into a frenzy of consumerist lust.
Dig deep for the next generation of Australians - buried somewhere under stacks of cards, cuddly toys, figurines, games, books, T-shirts, backpacks, lunch boxes, stickers, tattoos you name it all emblazoned with the names of the various cartoon heroes.
``The marketers are having a wonderful time," said Kelly Page, associate lecturer at the University of NSW's School of Marketing. ``They're targeting children and making it huge mass marketing. Because children now feel they have to keep up with their peers, they're becoming fad-driven and consumer-oriented and the marketers are taking advantage of that.
``The children they're aiming at are becoming younger and younger and it's so costly for parents. I think it's about time there was a backlash. I think it's quite wrong morally."
Nothing just now, however, will stop the massive merchandising wave rapidly approaching the country's shores and looking more like a tsunami every moment.
Starting off as Game Boy software in Japan in 1996, Pokemon has since exploded into a multimillion-dollar empire, with trading cards, video games, books, music, a TV cartoon on Channel 10 each morning whose popularity rivals Nine's Today Show and now the movie. By the end of December, Nintendo Australia estimates it will have sold merchandise worth well over $50 million domestically. Redenbach reckons parents will fork out an additional $20 million on Toy Story gear between now and Christmas.
Yet the figures tell nothing of the whole story. Underneath, we have the tales in the US of bigger kids knifing smaller kids for their Pokemon cards and parents, after the release of the original Toy Story, brawling with other parents in stores for scarce goods.
In Australia, already a number of schools have banned the cards after a flurry of thefts and reports of playground bullying and a few schools have introduced special supervised periods for Pokemon playing.
A big worry is gambling on cards with more than two million packs already sold in Australia and big money changing hands for rare cards.
``My sister is a child-care worker and she found kids spending between $50 and $100 in the schoolyard for particular cards," said Adolfo Hernandez, supervisor of Kings Comics in the city. ``I don't know where they're getting that kind of money."
In addition, stores are bracing themselves for the distress and angst of shortages and possible outbreaks of toy rage.
Last month, Nintendo Australia switched from shipping in Pokemon cards to flying in monthly 30-tonne batches in Qantas and United Airlines jumbos around 15 million cards a time but there is still a chronic shortage.
``That is a global problem," said Nintendo director of marketing Gavin Bust.
``The thing is out of control in the US and we're such a small market, compared with them, it doesn't make any difference us jumping up and down about it. It's tight in a number of products, but I don't think we'll see rioting in the stores."
Redenbach also hopes things will remain calm. ``We've just had 30,000 to 50,000 packs of cards delivered but I'm not sure they'll last the weekend," he said. ``We've seen all toys come and go, like Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles, but it's never been anything like this."
Desperate kids are busily putting their names down for products in shops before they arrive, eager to pay over the recommended retail price for entrepreneurs' parallel-importing outside official suppliers from the US.
All shops report an unprecedented number of phone calls from children making inquiries about availability, while cinemas, too, have been at full tilt with kids' calls about the movie. On the Internet, there are well over 100 sites dedicated to Pokemon and US magazines report the word as being the fourth most frequently used in search engines.
Of course, just how big the spending frenzy turns out to be depends largely on how well the two movies fare.
The buzz is already deafening on Toy Story 2, the tale of Woody's kidnapping and the other toys' rescue efforts, which has been described by some critics as being even better than the first. That was no mean performer either. It made $14 million at the Australian box office after opening in November 1995. It sold 500,000 videos here and a staggering 20 million in the US.
Disney executives expect Toy Story 2's Australian box office will be more than $20 million and serve to fuel the huge merchandising drive. ``Everyone was caught short last time because no-one knew what to expect," said Annabel Weedon, the NSW marketing manager for Buena Vista International. ``Everyone's ready this time. This will be the first sequel Disney's ever released for cinema."
The Pokemon movie about Ash Ketchum and his colleagues Misty and Brock on the quest to become the greatest Pokemon masters of all time has been roundly slated by reviewers but globally adored by kids.
In the US, it made $US10 million ($A15.7 million) on its opening day, enjoying the fourth highest Wednesday opening of all time behind Star Wars, Independence Day and Men In Black.
``I would say it'll do brilliantly here," said Fran Morris, marketing manager of Warner Bros Australia.
``There's a fairly aggressive marketing campaign in action, with an enormous merchandising drive in all the big stores like Coles, Kmart, Toys ``R" Us, Target."
The movie will have the widest possible release in more than 200 cinemas, Pokemon Island at Movie World will open on December 12 and the making of Pokemon 2 is already well under way, with its release slated for the middle of next year.
While most parents will undoubtedly prefer Toy Story 2, for its adult as well as kiddie humour, part of the appeal of Pokemon for kids is that it goes right over the parents' heads. We can't seem to understand the joy of collecting little monsters and involving them in battles where the loser faints, rather than dies.
``But if parents don't understand, it makes it part of an exciting secret society for children," says Sydney University child psychologist Dr Dianna Kenny. Also, the cult nature of the Pokemon card games and card collecting appeals to the 6-12 age group it's aimed at.
``Children of that age are graduating from parental authority to look for their peer groups," she said. ``Ritualistic card games and collecting allow them to form friendship clubs, to induct other members and to observe rules and rituals and follow the series and talk about their plans. It's a sort of tribal thing."
Market watchers say the Pokemon merchandise will do better than the spin-offs from Toy Story 2, comparing Toy with the Babe sequel, which didn't have half as much impact as the original. ``It's been done before," said Kelly Page, ``but Pokemon has targeted its audience very well."
Whoever's the victor, parents can only find themselves well out of pocket as the merchandising juggernaut roars on, with no sign of ever slowing.
TOY STORY 2
THE first sequel Disney has released into cinemas (even the sequel to The Lion King went straight to video), Toy Story 2 features the same characters as the original.
Using state-of-the-art computer animation and the voices of high-profile Hollywood stars, such as Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Don Rickles, the toys always play when their master Andy is away.
This film centres on the kidnapping of Woody by an unscrupulous toy collector when Andy is away at cowboy camp.
The other toys rally to rescue Woody and bring him home before Andy finds out about his disappearance.
POKEMON
Pokemon, originally animated in Japan, started with Game Boy games and rapidly spread into a TV cartoon, books, comics, music, videos, a huge range of toys and a card game that has kids madly collecting and swapping.
It offers players (called trainers) a chance to capture an ever-increasing number of collectible species at the moment 151 and engage in battles with other trainers. The goal is to win enough battles to ultimately become The World's Greatest Pokemon Master.
WOODY
The cowboy with nothing like the killer touch, who's now going through a mid-life crisis when he realises he's one of the oldest toys of them all
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR
The smooth-talking astronaut who, beneath his boastful exterior, has a heart of pure gold.
Mr POTATO HEAD
Modelled on the toys made by generations of kids, he's cynical with a smart answer for everything.
REX
He's the exact opposite of the scary dinosaurs of Walking With ... He lacks self-esteem and is clumsy and an obsessive worrier.
HAMM
He's the reliable, sensible one, who's a font of good ideas.
SLINKY DOG
Based on the favourite toy, this sausage dog is devoted to his master, Woody, and will do anything to save him.
JESSIE
A strong-willed, yodelling cowgirl who teams up with Woody to escape a toy collector.
Gengar
Gengar is a scary, ghostly little Pokemon. It is a stocky, spiky monster, purple in colour with big teeth and yellow eyes.
Venusaur
With its short, stubby body and wide grinning face, it looks like a brontosaurus and is prized for its versatility although it's unpredictable in battle.
Abra
With a fox-like face and bulging shoulder-pads, it lacks attack abilities but gets out of trouble by teleporting itself away from battles, which makes it difficult to capture.
Butterfree
A purple bug with butterfly wings, again versatile because it can fly.
Kakuna
Like an ant with a Darth Vader mask, this creature defends itself by hardening its protective shell to repel enemies.
Parasect
One of the strangest of the Pokemons, looking like a brightly coloured toadstool on top and bug underneath. It likes to live anywhere that's cold and damp.
The movie follows the progress of three human trainers faced with a big showdown between the most powerful Mew and a monster out for revenge on the world.
© 1999 Sun Herald